Opening van de Parlementsgebouwen te Londen 1847 1847

Curator: Take a moment to observe this intriguing object—a commemorative medal entitled "Opening van de Parlementsgebouwen te Londen 1847", created by H. Hyams. It's an engraving, a print on metal. Editor: It's visually very interesting, with the contrasting portraits. There’s a sort of stoic romanticism, a grandeur despite its miniature scale, with those intricate engravings that suggest an idealized monument and Queen. Curator: Let’s dig a bit deeper. The choice of metal—likely bronze or copper—would have made it a relatively affordable commemorative item, meant for wider distribution. Think about who was commissioning these, and why they’d want such an image circulated. It's an attempt to control the narrative surrounding the opening. Editor: And control is the perfect word; visually the rigid symmetry and precise detail denote an exercise in control—the imposing Parliament building rendered through orderly lines, creating visual authority through form. Even the placement and style of text create this kind of official feel through form. Curator: Exactly! Note also the skill involved in minting this kind of coin. Consider the labour and resources that went into engraving the design onto a die, striking the medals themselves. It’s about celebrating Victorian industry and technological advancements too, creating tokens for the emerging middle class, meant to reaffirm a national identity rooted in these new constructions. Editor: I am struck too by how much detail is lost in that diminishment from reality to miniature and that engraving is required for the image to exist. But the architectural precision endures nonetheless, even flourishes like what seems to be decorative boating on the river which contrasts the hard architectural lines. Curator: It encapsulates the aspirations and material realities of Victorian Britain— the machinery of its politics. What began as functional is imbued with symbolic purpose by its manufacture, from resource to reproduction. Editor: It really is about the translation and control over reality from monumental event to object in hand. That speaks to how societies codify their existence and histories, visually creating national identities for a pocket.